Aussie pair determined to honour Jarrod Lyle

There are 40 million reasons why the vision of Robert Allenby and Geoff Ogilvy to establish the Jarrod Lyle Invitational tournament should be taken seriously.

Allenby and Ogilvy first discussed the concept of having an Australasian tour event named after their great mate back in August, in the same week that Lyle lost his long-running battle with cancer.

They were at the players' lunch room at the Barracuda Championship in Reno, Nevada on the US PGA Tour when the idea came to life.

Jarrod Lyle (R) and Geoff Ogilvy.

On Monday night, Allenby's charity Challenge Cancer went past the $40 million mark in its 27th year of operation so when he puts his mind to something he is passionate about, he delivers.

The first round of the Australian PGA was bathed in yellow on Thursday as a tribute to Lyle while Challenge Cancer has had a merchandise stand at the tournament to raise money for the worthy cause.

Allenby - who got to six-under at Royal Pines on Saturday before a run of bogeys - is determined to make the Jarrod Lyle Invitational a reality.

"Victoria is ready for a good tournament on the sandbelt,'' the four-time Australian PGA champion said.

"Geoff and I are teaming up to create it. That's our plan. We sat down at the lunch table in Reno before we went out to play in the week that Jarrod passed away and we said we need to get this happening.

"It will take a lot of planning obviously but if you start well in advance, you can make it happen.

Robert Allenby and Jarrod Lyle. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

"It all comes down to money at the end of the day and we want it to be an event that attracts great international players as well as our great Australian players.''

Allenby earmarked the Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club - which was redesigned by the company Ogilvy is involved with - as a potential venue.

He said the recently reinstalled Victorian Labor government could also play a role.

"We've got so many great courses on the sandbelt and Peninsula is one of them so we could maybe start off there,'' Allenby said.

Jarrod Lyle hugs wife Briony. Picture: Getty

"It would be great to have the Victorian government backing us too. I was very impressed that the Premier of Victoria (Daniel Andrews) turned up to Jarrod's memorial.

"He just turned up as a friend, not as a political person…says a lot for the person he is and the heart that he's got. He's a big golf nut as well.''

Allenby said it has been an "awesome'' week at the Australian PGA.

"Everything from the yellow day to the 'Lyle Mile' and all the Leuk the Duck stuff has been amazing. It is such a nice gesture that shows Jarrod touched a lot of hearts not just in the golfing world but in general.'' - Greg Davis